The Rematch
by Zelda
Summary: A sequel to the episode The Most Dangerous Duck Hunt. The Baron is out for revenge, can the team escape his island without needing a taxidermist?
1. Part One

Disclaimer--- They're Disney's, not mine. What a shame!

Author's note--- This story is another chapter in my long-running Dragon Chronicles. Not every story in this series will be listed on FF.net, but all of them are listed in chronological writing order on my webpage. If you'd like to find out more about Zelda or other characters that will appear later in this series, visit my website at http://members.fortunecity.com/zeldathedragon and go to the information page. The rest of my stories can be found in the fanfiction section.

Rating: PG-13 for some violence and blood. Don't get mad, I really do love the Ducks! 

The Rematch

Written by Zelda

                Phil walked camly into the Ready Room, holding a white business envelope in his hand.

                "Whazzat Phil?" Nosedive asked, looking up from his comic book, and his position lying down on the couch. 

                Tanya, who was leaning over a table trying to fix a smashed com, looked up from her work as Phil handed the envelope to Dive, with a big grin on his face. 

                Nosedive opened it. "You've gotta be pulling my tailfeathers." he said. 

                "What is it?" asked Mallory.

                "Plane tickets!" he said. 

Phil crossed his arms and grinned. "I've arranged an exhibition game for you boobies." he smiled. Mallory groaned. "Not another one Phil! You remember the LAST time you got us into an exhibition game..."

                "No no it's nothing like that!" he said. "The Allegran island chain's trying to start up their own league." he said.

                "The Allegran islands?" Nosedive perked up.

                "What's that?" Grin asked.

                "Only a chain of the hippest tropical islands on the planet!" Dive said, getting up. 

                "Hey, it's the offseason, I wouldn't mind a vacation." Mallory sighed.

                "Yeah, a REAL vacation, without any lizards." Tanya agreed. "I say we take it up!" 

                "Yeah but what about Wildwing and Duke? Where are they?" Grin asked.

                "They've already gone." Phil told them. "I gave them the tickets this morning and sent them off on an earlier flight."

                "Oh, I didn't even know they had left!" Mallory said slowly. "Well, we'd better get packing!"

                Mallory checked her suitcase one more time before she would leave. Suntan lotion, bathing suits, sunglasses, hats, hockey uniform.... she had everything.

                "What, are you taking the Pond with you too Mal?" Nosedive said, yelling in from her doorway. "Come on, we're gonna miss our flight!" 

                Phil watched the Migrator pull away from the Pond and sighed heavily. Whew. That out of the way, he walked back into the Ready Room. 

                Suddenly, another door opened, and Wildwing and Duke stepped through. They walked over to some chairs and sat down. 

                Phil was tapping lazily away at Drake One.

                "Hey Phil, where is everyone?" Wing asked. 

                "They went off to the Allegran islands." he said nonchalantly.

                "What?" Duke asked, thinking Phil was being sarcastic.

                "They went off?" Wing asked. 

                "Yup." Phil said. "I sent them off."

                "Without telling us? What for?" Duke asked. "Why wouldn't you----" he was snapped short when Phil turned around, a red gleam in his eyes. 

                He suddenly disappeared, surrounded by a sparkling green veil of shadow.

                Tanya set her bags down in her room, yawning and stretching. She and Mallory were sharing a room, while Grin and Dive shared another. 

                "This hotel is great! The rooms are huge and I can't wait to see the pool." Mallory said, setting her suitcase at the foot of her bed. 

                "I dunno Mal, something about this place is givin' me the creeps." Tanya said. "It feels like I've been here before." 

                "So you got a random case of deja-vu, live it up Tanya!" Mallory said, and walked out to get some ice.

                Nosedive sat down on the sand with a towel and some suntan lotion.

                "Man, this is the life!" he sighed, leaning back on the warm sand. 

                Zelda landed next to him with a whole coconut in her claws, and began to rip the shell off to get to the nut itself. 

                A man walked up behind them dressed in a butler's outfit. "I hope everything's going well sir." he said. 

                "Just fine!" Nosedive smiled back. He drew in his breath when he saw that the man behind him had one eye missing, replaced by a mechanical device with a red disk in the middle. Nosedive frowned. "Have we met before?" he asked. 

                The man stood back and thought. "Hmmmm, you know, I don't zink we've met face to face..." he said. "But I can show you what probably caused you to hear of me." he grinned. 

                Suddenly, Nosedive saw a deep white gas hiss up around him. He began to cough violently. Sleeping gas! He choked and fell to his knees. Zelda was near him, he could feel her trying to blow the gas away.

                "Get help!" Nosedive managed, gagging as he looked about frantically. He saw Zelda fly off as his face hit the sand, and everything started to go black.      

                "Don't vorry little Duck, she'll be reunited vith you in good time." the man smiled, grabbing Nosedive by the back of his t-shirt and dragging him away.

                Zelda soared up into the air with a frightful quickness. She swirled around the castle-like hotel where the Ducks were being housed. Where was their room?! As she flew, Zelda thought how this building looked similar to one they had visited before, on the Allegran island of.... "Licktenstamp!" she groaned, suddenly realizing what they had done. She hurtled downwards.

                Mallory started with a loud yelp as Zelda came flying through the open window and rolled to a stop on the floor. 

                "Zelda?!" Tanya started.

                "We gotta get outta here now!" she cried. "It's a trap! We're on Licktenstamp!" 

                Tanya's jaw dropped open. "You're kidding!" she said. 

                But the presence of that familiar white gas soon put their questions to rest.

                Zelda yawned and blinked. At first she didn't want to wake up. She felt so warm and comfortable, she was just too tired. Slowly, her thoughts started to filter back to her, and she snapped violently awake. She was in a cage. Tanya was beside her, but there was no sign of Dive, Grin or Mallory. Tanya grunted as she slowly rolled up.

                "You okay?" she asked slowly. 

                "Yeah... where are the others?" Zelda asked. 

                "You von't be seeing zthem for a long time." a voice interrupted Tanya's reply. A small loudspeaker was mounted on a tree across the clearing the cage was in.

                "Let us out Baron!" Tanya threatened. 

                Suddenly, the cage bars fell away. 

                "You'll regret zat Duck." Baron said confidently. "Ze only way to get of ziz island is to survive it's perils! If the terrain dozen't kill you, my hunting machines will!" 

                Zelda growled and threw a stone at the speaker, knocking it to the ground and destroying it.

                The dragon stumbled up over a rock, sniffing the air.

                "It's different this time though. He took my Omnitool. He doesn't want us to find our way out." Tanya said, coming up behind her. 

                Zelda was tired. That gas was still wearing off.  "We'll just have to keep our eyes open. According to what happened on this island the last time we were here---"

                "What?" 

                Zelda put a claw against Tanya's shoe to silence her. 

                Tanya listened intently. Somewhere nearby, a low, pneumonic hiss.

                She was shoved to the ground hard, seeing stars as she landed. The purple fabric on the back of her suit ripped loudly as something tore at it. Zelda screamed animistically in attack, and the pressure on Tanya's back was alleviated. 

                Zelda shoved the robotic hyena to the ground, and bit into the metal casing in it's neck. 

                Tanya got up, only to be knocked down again. Two more pneumonic hisses, the clicking springs of action landed on her, tearing at her. She cried out as the skin along her arm was ripped. She rolled up and punched one of the robots away, hard. Her hand froze as a wave of pain washed up her arm, feedback from the blow. Tanya cringed and kicked the other hyena away. 

                Zelda flew over her head. "RUN!" she cried. 

                Tanya stumbled and followed blindly. Up ahead, she saw smoke. That was strange... but suddenly Tanya knew what it was. The thick, disgusting smell in the air made it clear: a sulfur spring. She ran into the steaming yellow smoke, and met up with Zelda, who was panting. "Think we can lose them in here?" Tanya asked. Her question was answered as something spun her around and tripped her. Tanya saw the ground come rushing up to her, and upon an incredible impact to her forehead, knew no more.

                Zelda howled as she backed up. Two hyenas remained, snarling and snapping mechanically at her. Zelda would have to think quick. She flapped and flew up. One of the hyenas leapt at her, clamping onto her foot and tearing as it fell away. Zelda wheeled off, away from Tanya. The hyenas followed, into the deep smoke. Zelda swirled back and came into plain sight about half a minute later. The two hyenas were barely visible behind her, sparking in malfunction, half submerged in water. Those two had been dumb enough to try and run through a spring. Zelda coughed loudly, landing roughly with squinted eyes. The sulfur burned her eyes and the inside of her nose and throat. She loped up to Tanya, trying to stay off of her injured right foot. But Tanya was out cold. Zelda managed to roll her onto her back. She sat up, alone in the smoke. She had to get Tanya out of here. Zelda took a white hankerchief out of Tanya's pocket and loped back to the water, dipping it into the yellowed water in what seemed to be a clean spot. She returned to Tanya and placed the damp cloth over her head. She would breathe easier now. But as for Zelda, it was her responsibility to get Tanya out of here. She grabbed the duck by the back of her uniform, and stood behind her head. She braced her hind legs, and launched herself backwards, managing to drag Tanya a few inches over the hardened yellow earth. Zelda regathered herself and flung out again. Zelda lunged again. She developed a pattern of resting for a few seconds and pulling, resting and pulling, dragging and dragging. A few inches at a time. Minutes later Zelda was heaving with effort. It was no easy task at all to haul so much weight with only the teeth. Her jaws and neck ached. Her throat was parched and her eyes were shut, crusted with sulfur. The sulfur got into her bleeding foot and stung and burned. Tanya showed no sign of waking. Drag and rest, drag and rest. But the ground was turning to brown again. Soon Zelda passed by a bush. They were leaving the springs, into the forest that surrounded it. Zelda stopped, panting hard, her energy spent. She collapsed, coughing violently, beside Tanya.

                Wet. Tanya felt the wetness all over her face, her beak and eyelids. She slowly faded back into consciousness, guided by the pain in her left hand and the throbbing static in her head. Tanya reached up and felt a wet cloth over her head. Removing it and opening her eyes, Tanya was suprised to see a patchy forest canopy above them. She leaned up on her right elbow and looked around, to see Zelda laying near her. She must have dragged her all this way! Fighting the dizziness from her head, Tanya leaned up fully, and turned to have a look at her comrade. Sulfur was crusted on her feet and around her eyes, nostrils, and mouth. The dragon inhaled irratically. Tanya realized that she must be having trouble breathing, having inhaled a lot of that sulfur. She took the wet cloth and started wiping the yellow off of her head as she thought. The noise in her head made it hard. If Zelda had inhaled all that stuff, it could very well be caked on the inside of her lungs. Tanya gauged her plan carefully. 

                "Sorry about this girl." she said, and raised her hand, striking a stern but short blow to Zelda's ribcage. What would have been a yelp of protest was cut short by a fit of violent coughing, as the dragon sprung to life, desperate for air. She raised herself on her forepaws, head down miserably as she spat out wet, yellow chunks. Finally, the coughing slowed, and she was able to breathe.

                "That stuff is nasty....." she breathed, lowering herself again.

                "You okay?" Tanya asked. 

                "Now I am..." Zelda replied slowly. 

                "You dragged me all that way, didn't you?" Tanya smiled.

                "Never underestimate a dragon with a purpose." Zelda grinned. She sat up and felt Tanya's forehead, which featured a darkening bruise. "Man... that thing looks bad. Any dizziness, memory loss?" the dragon asked.

                "Yeah... yeah I can't see that strait." Tanya replied after a minute.

                "Could be a mild concussion..." Zelda thought. 

                Tanya brought her left hand up to examine her head for herself, but gasped in pain upon moving it.

                "What?" Zelda asked.

                "I punched one of those hyenas..."

                "You mean the one with the big dent in the flank?" Zelda smiled slightly. "You should leave that stuff to Grin, looks like that hand may be sprained." 

                "Speaking of Grin, where are the others?" Tanya sighed.

                "Better off than we are, I hope." Zelda said, taking Tanya's hankerchief and tying it around the gash along the duck's shoulder. She then got a few sticks and stray vines to splint the hand. "For all we know, they could already be trophies on the Baron's wall." 

                "Jeez I hope not." Tanya said. She tried to stand, but was so dizzy that she quickly leaned against a nearby tree.

                "I suggest we sleep here for the night." Zelda coughed. Evening was close at hand anyway. "We're pretty safe here, most of the robots would avoid the springs, I imagine." 

                Tanya shook her head. She didn't know what to expect out here. "I'm worried about the others Zel." she sighed. 

                The dragon rumbled in agreement. 

                Tanya sat up again, placed a hand around a vine, and pulled herself up, balancing herself against it. "I think we should go find them." 

                Zelda knew going out into the jungle at night was a big risk. But Tanya was no baby, she knew what she was getting into. And if Tanya could keep going, she could too. Zelda looked up at her. "Let's go."

                Wildwing tried to cough, the stale air he was trying to force out of his lungs being shoved stubbornly back down his throat. He shuffled his armor, feeling his wrists being pulled uncomfortably behind his back. This gag was unbearable. He wanted to rip it off and be able to breathe, for crying out loud! He looked over at Duke with helpless eyes. His armor was too big to let his hands maneuver out of his binds. But Duke could get out of anything. Duke glanced back at him with knitted brows. He was working on something. He wrenched his hands back and forth. The ropes that tied them were thick and heavy, thicker than Wildwing's. Finally, and unfortunately,  those Saurians were learning something. And Duke had been bound hand and foot, while Wildwing's feet were free. But Duke wasn't used to the thick binding. The heavy ropes would prove too much for him. And the Saurians had stripped the two Ducks of just about everything but their usual armor. Wildwing shook his head. Great. Just great. He breathed heavily through his gag again and looked around. The cargo hold of Draggy's scout ship was no first class flight. It was just light enough to see. Wildwing had been wondering where Draguanus was taking them for hours. The flight had seemed to last days. His wrists ached from being bound for so long. Moreso, he was worried about the others. He sank into the back of his mind and feared the worst for his team.

                Mallory drew a dripping wet fern leaf over her head gently, and peered out from under it, into the night. 

                Nosedive crouched behind her groggily, shivering a bit in the night's cold. 

                Grin towered over the both of them. 

                Mallory was as tense as a hunting jungle cat. But it was fear that made her so jumpy. She had been in situations like this before.... being tracked down by the Saurian hunter drones back on Puckworld, playing a deadly cat-and-mouse game through fields of rubble and half-destroyed buildings. But it was so different out here. There were no bullets or exploding mines, just crickets and the occasional bird or monkey calling. The night would cloak her.... and also hide her enemies. Those robots could be anywhere. Mallory was undescribably thankful that they hadn't run into any yet. Still, she was worried about the others. Not only Tanya and Zelda but Wildwing and Duke. She wished she had her com, she wished she could talk to them... just to see how they were off. She hated this isolation. She looked back behind her and signaled that they could move. She emerged from underneath the fern, and into the tall grass of a clearing. The grass grew higher as the clearing went on, getting taller than her head. She paused as Nosedive and Grin flanked her.

                "A good place to hide." Nosedive noted, nodding towards the grass.

                "A good place to hide an ambush." Grin said ominously. 

                What Mallory would give for a pucklauncher. She sucked in a breath of the cold air and picked her way up into the grass. It crept over her head and she became part of it, weeding through it carefully. Behind her, a stick snapped, the noise seeming deafening in the night, like a firecracker exploding. 

                The three froze. 

                Mallory shot a look backwards to see Nosedive's foot delicately withdrawing from the broken stick. She glared at him and his face reddened. 

                His only reaction was a frightened smirk. 

                Grin put his hand up to stop the both of them. 

                They halted altogether.

                Nothing.

Thankfully enough, the twig didn't seem to attract anything. Mallory tried to relax her muscles. Maybe this island wasn't as bad as it seemed. Maybe the horror stories Wing and Tanya and Duke had told the rest of the team were just overblown. Maybe those robots weren't waiting around every turn. Then again, Mallory thought, maybe they were. Slowly, silently, she pressed onward. As she walked, the grass got lower again, slapping at her legs as she moved. Suddenly, she halted. The forest came to an abrupt stop about fifty feet ahead of them. The grass ended, and beyond that there was a field of bare earth and ragged tree stumps.

                "Must be a logging operation." Grin said. 

                Nosedive nodded and braced his hands on his knees. He was still trying to shake off all that sleeping gas. 

                Suddenly, there was a bursting crack over their heads. They all must have jumped four feet in the air. Thunder. The sound was thunder. It rolled over the landscape in a wave of earthshaking noise. 

                "Great, looks like it's going to rain." Nosedive snorted. 

                Mallory looked up at slate gray clouds overhead. Lightning cracked not too far away. "We'd better get back into the jungle." she said. 

                Slowly, they heard more rumbling from far away. It quickly grew closer. 

                "That.... doesn't sound like thunder...." Mallory breathed. 

                There was a long pause as they heard the rumbling grow louder.

                "No...." Grin said. "It doesn't."

                The rain was coming down in droves. Yuck. It was a cold rain too, Zelda hated that. She drew her wings over her head and proceeded on through the jungle. The thick canopy that had shaded them during they day was useless as an umbrella. The drenching downpour filtered through the leaves and flooded the trodden forest pathways with thin, black mud. Tanya was ahead of her, marching steadily through the mess, her boots creating sucking noises each time they were pulled from the muddy ground. It was hard going. Zelda limped miserably. "Let's see if we can't get out of this forest." she called up to Tanya. 

                The Duck ahead of her paused against a tree to rest, and nodded. "Yeah, this is exhausting." 

                Zelda dug her claws into the tree and began to climb up it. Ten feet up, she stopped and squinted. "There's a field about twenty feet directly to our left." she said, and glided down, the rain drumming on her wings. 

                Tanya wrung the wet from her drooping hair, not that it made much difference, and resumed her walk again. She thought she could make the field out among the trees.

                Mallory threw herself to her right, barely avoiding the charging headlights. She felt a violent breeze speed past her, and heard the squealing of brakes. She felt mud, oozing up around her. Yuck. Mallory got to her knees and looked back. Blood red taillights snarled like two eyes in the blackness. Lightning flashed to reveal some sort of vehicle... a huge truck with thick tires and some sort of structure on the back.... The vehicle's engine rumbled as the truck hit reverse. Mallory shoved herself to her feet and ran backwards, towards the grass. Lasers slit the ground a few feet away. Saurian lasers. Mallory suddenly changed direction. She could hear the truck roaring behind her, but it didn't seem to be following her. She wondered about the others and turned to look for them. Suddenly something ran into her, nearly knocking her flat off her feet. 

                Grin's hand reached out and grabbed her just before she fell. "Sorry." he said quickly. "Didn't see you." 

                "Where's Nosedive?" Mallory asked. 

                "I don't know." Grin said. Suddenly there was a flash of red light, and Grin toppled over in the mud, rolling on the ground. 

                Mallory squatted beside him. "What happened?"

                "Got my leg, I'll be fine, run!" Grin yelled, holding his ankle, and pushed her away. 

                Mallory looked up to see two thick headlight beams catching she and Grin like deer on a road. Mallory darted away, diving behind a tree trunk for cover. She rolled up, the thick mud oozing down her back. Peering over the top of the sawn stump, she saw the truck jerk to a halt about twenty feet from Grin, who was trying to stand. The passenger door opened, and a thin, short figure leapt out, shouldering a laser. The Chameleon. Mallory snarled. 

                The little lizard strode up to the kneeling Duck, and nonchalantly aimed his laser gun. 

                Suddenly, Grin lunged at him and punched him halfway across the clearing. 

                The lizard slid to a stop in the mud, lightning streaking over him. 

                Grin tried to stand again, when suddenly a figure appeared behind him in a puff of smoke.    Wraith cracked him solidly across the back with his staff, and Grin fell back to the mud, not moving. 

                Mallory gasped. 

                Wraith cackled loudly and raised his staff higher for another blow. 

                She stood up and was about to run out there, when somebody jumped in behind Grin.

                Nosedive yelled angrily as he planted a kick firmly in the back of the wrinkled old Saurian.                 Wraith was flung forward into the mud, getting up slowly. 

                He started to walk towards Grin, who was just starting to get up. Suddenly Nosedive cried out as a blast of red light violently cut him down. The burning pain of a laser blast oozed over his stomach. As he kneeled to the ground, he looked up to see the Chameleon pacing toward him in the darkness, muddy laser pointed at the Duck's head. Nosedive tried to stand, when something grabbed his hands and pulled them back. 

                Wraith threw a heavy rope over the torso of the Duck and yanked it tight. 

                Nosedive was pulled back, choking, as the rope was tied around his stomach and hands. 

                "Thought you were slick, did you?" Wraith grinned at him. He raised his staff and magically lifted the Duck high in the air, hurling him into the back of the truck. 

                Grin, tied as well and groaning in pain, followed a few seconds later. 

                Both rolled to a sitting position along the wall of the truckbed. 

                Nosedive looked around him quickly. The truck was fitted with a wooden paneling, much like that used for transporting livestock. And Dive froze as he realized he and Grin weren't alone. 

                Lighting raked the sky to reveal two figures huddled in a corner as a bound and gagged Wing and Duke. 

                "Wing!" Nosedive coughed. "You guys okay?" 

                His brother managed a nod through his bindings. 

                "I hope everyone's having fun back there." a familiar voice suddenly cut through the conversation. 

                Dive looked up to see Dragaunus, glaring at him from the driver's seat, a taloned hand on the steering wheel.

                "You lousy lizard! I'm gonna have a piece of you for dinner when I get outta this!" Nosedive yelled angrily. 

                "Now now czhildren," Baron Von Licktenstamp turned about from the passenger seat. "No fighting, and keep to your own zide of the car. But... I suppoze zhat won't be zo hard, now will it?" he suddenly burst into laughter as the engine roared, and the vehicle lurched forward into the mud.

                Mallory flipped off of the log stump as the lasers started to hail on her again. She was all alone out here.... Grin and Dive had been captured. Mallory had to make a break for the jungle. The headlights caught her as she made a run for it. The forest was about ten feet away when suddenly two figures came walking from it. Mallory stopped short and gasped as she recognized Tanya and Zelda! 

                Tanya waved to her, not knowing of the danger.

                "Tanya! Run for cover!" Mallory yelled, as the lasers slit past her. 

                The Duck and dragon at the forest's edge suddenly realized what was happening, and split, running into the open field. 

                "No! Not there!" Mallory yelled, but it was too late. 

                Tanya was cut down by a laser as she ran. 

                Zelda roared and loped toward her, but the truck got there before she could. 

                Wraith and the Chameleon jumped quickly out to tie up their prize. 

                Someone from inside the truck started to fire on Zelda and Mallory, and the two resumed running again. 

                Mallory made a mad dash for the forest, her lungs bursting with effort. Five feet to the forest's edge... four feet... three feet.... and suddenly she felt her foot snagged on a root. Helpless, she saw the mud rushing up to her, and felt her hands dig uselessly into the ooze as she landed, face first in the muck. She gasped for breath and shot up again, but it was too late. A thick rope was lassoed around her. She could feel the hot lights of the truck on her back. The rope held her fast. Exhausted, Mallory gave up and dropped back into the cold mud.

                                                                                To be continued......


	2. Part Two

The Rematch, part 2

Written by Zelda

                Seige blinked the rain out of his beady eyes as the Chameleon jumped up from the middle of the backseat. He took another coil of rope off the floor and started for the door. Seige opened it for him. 

                The lizard morphed into a man in a gray suit and a briefcase. "Well honey, I'm off to work!" he said comically, and stepped for the door, accidentally landing on the Seige's foot.

                "OW!" the fat orange lizard snarled. He picked the lizard up by the back of his neck and flung him out of the door, into the mud. 

                "Yeaaaahg!" Chameleon yelled as he landed. He collected himself and stood up, examining his suit carefully.

                "Guess it's back to the cleaners!" he said chipperly, wiping some of the mud off. He shouldered the coil of rope and skipped through the headlight beams, over to Mallory. The mud-coated Duck was still trying to get her breath and recover enough strength to get up again. Chameleon happily looped the rope around her, tying her hands and dropping her into the mud again. He quickly finished tying her up, and dragged his prize to her knees. He quickly morphed into a fisherman, taking off his fly-covered hat and bowing. "Golly! This one's a catch for the record books!" he joked through buck teeth. 

                "Shut up you little peon!" Dragaunus roared at him from the driver's seat. "Just get her into the back of the truck!"

                "Sheesh, okay boss!" the Chameleon grunted. He grabbed Mallory by the back of the ropes and began dragging her through the mud, towards the truck. He was having trouble pulling her through, he wasn't strong enough. "Ugh, somebody wanna lend me a hand?" he called.

                "Sure, how about a foot to go with it?" 

                Chameleon turned around just in time to see himself receive a flying kick right into his jaw. The lizard was thrown onto his back, holding his mouth and squealing in pain. 

                Duke stepped into the thick beams of the headlights.

                "WHAT? How did he get free?!?!" Draguanus roared from the truck. 

                Zelda peered in at him from the roof, waving daintily. "Guess it was me." she grinned. 

                Draguanus roared and shot out the windshield with his laser, the glass flying in a thousand directions, barely missing the dragon as she flew up into the air. 

                Duke stooped beside Mallory, having no time to lose. "Think you can run?" he asked her.         Mallory shook the mud out of her hair. "Gemme loose and I'll race you." 

                Duke was using the long, gray spine on his elbow to try and cut through the ropes. It was slow going. 

                "Come on Duke, can't you move any faster?" Mallory whined. 

                Suddenly, Duke yelled out as he was thrown away from her. 

                Seige, beady eyes nearly blazing in the darkness, came storming through the mud, the ooze splashing up around his elephantine feet. 

                Duke rolled up as Seige grabbed Mallory and jerked her high into the air. "Let her go Seige!" he yelled. 

                "Make me beak face!" Seige stuck a little pink tongue out at the Duck. He waved back to the truck. "Hold your fire! I want a piece of this Duck myself." 

                Duke glared at him. 

                Seige charged forwards, head down like a rhinoceros. 

                Duke agilely flipped over him, stabbing him along the arm with his elbow spike. 

                Seige yelled out angrily and spun around to face Duke as he landed, holding his shoulder and seething. 

                "Torro, torro!" Duke laughed. Seige threw Mallory to the ground and charged again. Duke knew it would be stupid to try the same move again, he stayed low and tried to dodge him. Seige rumbled over him as he ducked. The orange lizard spun quickly, and Duke tried to push himself up, slipping in the mud. He lost his stride and regained himself a step behind Seige, who was already on him again. 

                Seige closed his eyes and pivoted around, stiffening his tail and letting it rip sideways. He felt it slam into something and completed his turn, glancing around to see Duke still flying backward. He grinned and stomped off for Mallory again. He knew that Duck wasn't getting back up. A quick glance over his shoulder verified it, Duke lay curled up in a little ball about ten feet away. Idiot. Seige smiled as he picked up Mallory again. She wriggled like a worm.

                "Duke! Duke get up!" she yelled. 

                "Shut your face Duck." Seige snapped at her. The lizard looked over his shoulder to see the Chameleon wobbling toward him, holding his jaw. "Whatsa matter, that little featherbrain gave you a booboo?" Seige teased. 

                "Shut up!" Chameleon whined, muffled by his hand. "Think he broke something in here." 

                They both trudged over for Duke, Chameleon giving him an extra kick in the flank before Seige picked him up by the back of the shirt collar, and threw them both into the back of the truck. He leapt back into the car, followed by a hobbling Chameleon, and slammed the door behind him.

                Zelda had taken to the wing long ago. The cold rain pounded on her, beating her down. She roared and pushed herself upward, tiring quickly. She had seen Duke and Mal captured. She knew she was alone now. The engine of the truck was rumbling behind her, she had to get away! She veered for the jungle sharply, hoping to lose them. Suddenly a thick hail of lasers resounded to her left, pushing her back into the middle of the clearing. They were playing with her as if she were in a shooting range! Terrified, Zelda tried to maneuver to the right, with the same result. Lighting cracked overhead like a claw. Zelda cried out and barrel-rolled downward, hoping to outmaneuver her aggressors. She had to do something, and she needed an idea now.

                The truck fishtailed in the mud, sending its cargo in the back rolling over each other. Grin landed hard on his back, the sore bruise that formed a line right across his spine throbbing. He rolled back into a sitting position and tried to remain that way in all the chaos. He looked out into the night, knowing Zelda was the only one left. If she could just get away.... He ducked and bobbed inbetween the wooden slats of the back of the truck, trying to see. A brilliant flash of lightning nearby revealed her form for a split second, flapping through the sky almost directly ahead. Lasers blazed past her, casting red shadows on her purple scales to further guide the aim of the Saurians. Zelda was definitely in panic. She couldn't look behind her to see her attackers. The storm was swirling in closer, the driving rain and thrashing lightning was going to be a problem. She was tiring too. Grin knew she needed help. Lightning suddenly cracked so close that it hit a tree on the edge of the jungle. 

                Zelda screamed in fear. 

                "Keep your head Zelda, they're centered behind you!" Grin tried to concentrate through all the chaos in the truck. "Watch the lightning and keep trying to shake them! You can do it!" Grin received no telepathic message in reply. 

                The dragon ducked and wheeled in the air. 

                "Can't somebody hit zhat flying snake?" the Baron yelled at the Saurians in the truck ahead.                 Suddenly, a dazzling claw of lightning struck the ground about sixty feet in front of the truck. In the strobe-like flash of light, Grin gasped as he saw Zelda, very close to the bolt itself, wings spread out in suprise. Thunder burst out directly overhead in an earsplitting wave. In the blackness, Grin lost Zelda. Another flash of light nearby saw her falling helplessly down through the air. Grin froze. Had she been hit by the lightning? The truck suddenly squealed to a turning stop. The Ducks were thrown about again as Grin was slammed to the right side of the truck. The car was turned towards the jungle, Grin could make out the foliage thrashing in the headlights. He looked ahead into the mud. Blackness. Where was Zelda? Mallory grunted as she righted herself next to him. Silence quickly enveloped the truck. Where was she?        Out of the darkness, the dragon gave a long, loud roaring cry. It hung in the air, nearly rattling in her throat, twisted in pain, gurgling in the mud. She was crying for help. 

                Thunder blotted out all sound as it smashed again. The cry was gone by the time the rumbling had receded. 

                Grin thought he could hear the Saurians talking in the cab ahead.

                "You heard her, she's still alive!" Wraith said. 

                "I zay we leave her here! Let my wolves rip her into zhreds!" Baron declared. 

                "No." Dragaunus said in a smiling voice. "Seige, finish her." 

                Lighting flashed as the passenger door creaked open.

                Mallory gasped as she saw him. 

                Seige stomped out into the darkness, blood dripping from a ragged gash in his arm. Seige barely seemed to notice it though, as he wiped mud off of the barrel of his laser. A flashlight from the truck was trained on him as he walked out into the rain, about twenty feet in front of her. As he raised his laser, Zelda's cry came rattling out again. Seige carefully aimed and fired. 

                Mallory caught the flash of red light as it sparked off something not far away from Seige. 

                Zelda's cry was violently cut off. 

                Seige went towards his prey, and the flashlight was turned off. 

                "What... what happened...?" Nosedive coughed from somewhere in the black of the truck.                 Nobody answered him. 

                There was a startling creak of metal as the back of the truck was swung down and open. 

                Mallory felt mud splash onto one of her outstretched legs as something light and wet landed on it. Lightning cued in to reveal one of Zelda's wings. 

                Wildwing, who was sitting closest to the end of the truck, growled angrily and suddenly struck out, kicking Seige hard in the head. 

                Seige stumbled back, then roared and loomed into the truck, dealing the gagged Wildwing a punch. 

                Wildwing was pushed back as the truck was slammed shut and Seige stormed away. 

                "Zelda? You okay girl?" Tanya asked. 

                There was no answer. 

                The truck roared up again, and turned around, heading towards a path in the jungle. 

                Drip, drip, drip.... Wildwing listened to the rhythmic sound of the water dripping from the stalactite across the way. The hollow cave seemed to echo with that one sound. He twitched again as the Mask sparked from the dent in the right side of the beak. Seige had given him a good whack. He hoped the Mask wasn't badly damaged. The cave made a good setting for a prison, and the shackles that held his hands to the wall weren't comfortable. In the dim light, he looked down at his feet and were glad they were allowed to rest freely on the ground. As he craned his neck a little more, pain suddenly rippled through it. He winced and quickly looked up again. Ouch, that hit by Seige hurt more than he thought it did. The Mask sparked up again, into his eyes. He heard a sneeze next to him, and glanced over to see Tanya shaking her head, her hair still wet and full of mud. She looked up at him with a rather blank stare, as if she was wondering what to do next. As the wall rounded and the cave continued to hollow, Wildwing scanned his eyes across his brother. Nosedive didn't look badly hurt, there was a noticeable bruise on his arm, and of course the laser burn that had singed his stomach. Fortunately, it looked that most of the blast had been taken by his chest armor. Nosedive was now hanging his wet head, perhaps he was asleep after the ordeal. Next was Duke. Despite the pain in his neck Wildwing turned his head to get a better look at Duke, whom he was seriously worried about. He hadn't seen the blow Seige had given him, but Duke was having obvious trouble breathing. It was actually hard to tell if he was breathing at all, his breath was so shallow and quick. Perhaps Seige had broken a few of his ribs. Wildwing frowned. Duke's eye was pale and glassy from a lack of oxygen. There was little any of them could do for him like this. Next to him lay Zelda, who wasn't shackled to the wall but had her each foot on a chain secured on the floor. She lay in a twisted heap of her own wings, still covered in mud. From time to time she managed to stir and let out a high, soft whining. Wildwing had heard that sound quite a few times, he'd actually given it some behavioral analysis in the back of his head. Whenever Zelda was injured, unconscious, or helping someone else who was injured, she made that noise. It was a high, hollow sound that was pitched out of the throat. It was barely audible to the human or Duck ear, but Wildwing thought it might be at a higher frequency so her kind could hear it, almost like an instinctive distress call. Perhaps this same sound was mimicked by the signal whistles that the Ducks used to call Zelda when she was away. Wildwing could feel the light reed whistle hanging in its place around his neck, under his armor. Wildwing blinked and was just happy that she was showing some sign of being alive. He was terrified that shot had killed her when he heard it go off, or that she had been struck by the lightning. Wildwing sighed softly and looked over at Mallory. She still looked tired, her eyes half-closed and her gear encrusted with mud. She didn't return his gaze. Grin seemed to be the most together in the group. Wildwing knew that bruise across his back wasn't exactly comfy, but he seemed to be taking it well. Wildwing turned his attention away from the team and scanned the bars of the cell. The bars separated the cell a little less than halfway down the hollow of the cave. Another cell lay empty across the way. It's door held a typical prison lock.... Duke could get through that in a heartbeat. Wildwing cleared his throat, a wave of pain going down as he swallowed.

                "Hey Duke? You okay over there?" his words echoed cautiously off of the cave walls. 

                Duke raised his head slightly and took a quick breath. "Fine." he said simply. 

                Zelda began to whine again. "You're getting rusty at lying Duke." she mumbled from beneath her wings. 

                Wildwing was suprised. Had she been awake all this time? 

                Slowly, the dragon began to fold her wings into some sort of neatness. As she did, a thin steam came from off of her flanks. 

                It was barely visible, but it caught Wildwing's attention. How could she be generating enough heat to evaporate the water in the mud? 

                "Where'd Seige get ya Duke?" Nosedive asked, snapping a stupor he'd been in. 

                Duke took a moment to answer. "Ribs..." he managed. 

                Zelda snorted audibly. 

                Suddenly he began to cough slightly, trying to stifle it, eye squinted shut in pain as he did so.

                "Easy Duke." Wildwing tried. 

                As Duke finally quieted, he relaxed. 

                "You think anything's broken?" Wildwing asked a few moments later.

                "Dunno." Duke admitted with a blink.

                "We'll get ya outta here." Mallory assured him. 

                He sighed in reply. 

                "Idiot Saurians." Nosedive seethed. "I wish I could have one clean shot at 'em."

                "First we must escape from here." Grin reminded him. 

                "Well if anyone has a plan, I'd be more than welcome to hear it." Wildwing sighed. 

                The room was silent for a moment.

                "Care to try the playing opossum trick?" Zelda mumbled lightly, eyes half-open.

                "Dunno if it would work... uuh we're all tied down, how could we escape when the Saurians open the door?" Tanya asked. 

                "Wait... what if the Saurians came in here and took the 'opossum' out, say Zelda for instance. They'll leave her somewhere, and she'll come back to free us." Wildwing said.

                "Negative." Mallory shook her head. "That 'leaving her somewhere' could mean shoving her in the Raptor's incineration chamber." 

                Wildwing got her point.

                "It's worth the shot." Zelda raised her head, shivering. "At the moment... there's no other plan."

                "We'll think of something a little less risky." Wildwing overruled her.

                Nosedive glowered miserably at his brother. Two hours and nothing. No activity, no talking. Two hours of boring, sleepy silence. Dive could tell his brother was thinking, and thinking hard. But the truth of the matter was that this was a really sucky situation. Draggy had outdone himself for this scheme. Nosedive rolled his eyes and hung his wet head, wondering if he might catch some zzzzs through the dull pain that radiated through his stomach. Uck this place was yucky, he still had mud all over him. Two hours. He was wishing something would happen. 

                And suddenly there was a loud, metallic clang from somewhere far off in the cave. Heavy footsteps resounded soon after. 

                Nosedive slumped down. Dang it.

                Seige's beady eyes scanned the Ducks in the cave like a tiger. His mouth curled into a grin as he stopped. He clanged the bars with his tail, snapping anyone who was asleep inside awake violently. 

                "Whoops, did I do that?" he smiled innocently.            

                "Shut up you volleyball with legs." Mallory snarled.

                "Silence both of you!" A voice roared to life from down an unseen hallway. Dragaunus stalked into the room calmly. "Just coming to check on our guests." he grinned. "I do hope you're all uncomfortable." 

                Everyone behind the bars glared hatefully at him. 

                Wildwing glanced down to see Zelda lying on the floor with her eyes closed. 

                Dragaunus seemed to notice it too. "And what's the matter little one?" he cooed, leaning down to have a look at her. "Got a bad case of death from Seige eh?" he glanced up at his grinning henchman. "Can't tell how someone so puny as yourself could take a hit like that." 

                The dragon didn't respond. 

                Grin began to tap his foot on the floor. 

                Wildwing looked at Grin strangely, who nodded. Wildwing knew what it meant. 

                "Zelda.... Zelda wake up...." he suddenly urged her in a worried tone. 

                The dragon still lay silent. She wasn't breathing. 

                "Zelda?" Tanya joined in, her voice a tad more frantic. 

                Grin stretched his leg out to nudge her. The dragon still didn't respond.

                "Great mother of Ducks..." Nosedive breathed. "She's not--"

                "Dead?" Dragaunus interrupted. "I'll be the judge and jury of that." His purple robes fluttered behind him as the red lizard unlocked the cage bars and stepped inside. Instead of teasing the others like he usually would, he went strait for Zelda. He picked the dragon up by the back of the neck, she making no response and sagging beneath him like a rag doll. 

                Wildwing blinked hopefully. He hated to be taking this risk.... but maybe... just maybe. The leader smiled internally as Draguanus started to chuckle over the 'corpse'. The old opossum trick had worked again. Draguanus's laughter continued to grow, until he suddenly flung Zelda's body violently to the ground and roared in fury. Wildwing snapped to. What had happened? 

                "Do you take me for a fool?" he screamed at the occupants of the cell. He began to smile again. "Idiots, do you think I was stupid enough to mistake one with her flesh nearly on fire for a dead body?!" 

                "Well it would be dumb to say no now, wouldn't it?" Mallory smirked. 

                Draguanus lashed his tail across the front of her legs, leaving the Duck cramped with the stinging pain. 

                Wildwing was still trying to grasp what had gone wrong. Flesh on fire? What was he talking about? 

                Zelda opened her eyes miserably beneath him, seething about her plan not working. She roared shrilly and sunk her teeth into his left ankle, biting like a dog. 

                Immediately the lizard above her roared in pain and recoiled, pulling his foot away. 

                Zelda held on, her chains snapping taught as Dragaunus tried to get her off of his leg. She shook back, twisting her head and trying to cut as deep as possible. 

                Dragaunus slammed her to the ground so hard that it jarred her, and he slipped out of her grasp. He smacked her hard across the head and neck with his tail, knocking her clean into Grin. The dragon fell to the floor soundlessly while Dragaunus held his foot, wincing. "You'll pay for that you little waste of scales. I'm going to get Baron to stuff you and stitch you up so nicely... right in the position you'll lay in when you die!" He put his foot down and tried to walk out of the cell, only managing to limp instead. He snarled as he walked. 

                Nosedive snickered at him. 

                "I'll stuff you all! Just you wait." he snapped back at the Ducks before he slammed the door closed in fury. Seige moved to help him walk, but Draguanus refused him with an angry snarl and hopped out of the room with Seige in tow. A distant door slammed shut, and all was left in silence. 

                                                                                To be continued....


	3. Part Three

The Rematch, part 3

Written by Zelda

                Tanya sighed loudly in relief. The less time she spent under the eye of that lizard, the better.                 Nosedive was still chuckling. 

                Zelda rolled slowly to her feet and shook her head. "Sorry Ducks...." she grumbled slowly. "I blew it."

                "What did Draggy mean when he said your flesh was on fire?" Wildwing asked her. 

                "I have a touch of fever." Zelda curled herself up on the floor. 

                "Anything much?" 

                "No." 

                Grin didn't believe the dragon. He stretched his leg to rest against her flank. He felt heat even through his pants' fabric.

                "You're burning up Zel." he corrected her. 

                The dragon grumbled again and blinked up at him with dry, bloodshot eyes. She curled up tighter and tucked a head beneath her wing. 

                Wildwing sighed. "Anyone have anything for a plan B?" he ventured. 

                Most of the team gave him a furrowed brow as a response.

                "I do." Tanya said after a few seconds. "Dig." 

                "What?" Nosedive asked.

                "Just trust me. It's a long shot, but just dig with your feet." 

                The team looked up and shrugged at each other. Something to pass the time, at least. They all began to scuff at the soft, red earth with their feet. All of them except Duke. 

                Slowly, Zelda staggered to her feet and began to scrape at the earth as well. 

                Grin grunted as he stubbed his toe on something. He kicked at it again and something in the ground refused to give. 

                Instantly Tanya was interested. "You think you can get at that Grin?" she asked. 

                Grin continued to kick at the earth, and some dirty, lumpy object continued to stub his toe. 

                "Try and get that out Zel." Tanya suggested. 

                The dragon shifted her legs, spread wide apart to hold up her weight. She stretched her chains to try and reach to the place Grin was kicking at. She scrabbled her claws in the dirt to try and scrape more away from the object in the ground. Locking a hand around it, the dragon shook it loose, and finally pulled it out. She brushed the rock off, to reveal it was actually an orange crystal. "What's that Tanya?"

                "What I hoped we'd find." Tanya was grinning from ear to ear. "A bit of solarinite."

                "You're kidding." Mallory said. 

                "Not at all." Tanya smiled. "Now we just have to figure out what to do with it."

                "Tanya, what are you talking about?" Wildwing frowned at her.

                "Well can melt these shackles with the heat the solarinite will create, but it needs uh....a deal of heat to start off the crystal's reaction." 

                The dragon tucked the crystal under her own body like an egg, and sealed it up with her feet. Suddenly, she yowled and rolled over.

                "Ow!" she snarled. "That's hot!"

                "Good, that triggered the reaction!" Tanya smiled. "Now we have to get it on someone's shackles."

                "Give it here." Wildwing instructed. "The heat won't burn my hands." He wiggled a glove about in his shackles. 

                Zelda picked the rock up, stretching her arm as far as the chain would allow. Lip snarled from the hot object, she threw it carefully. 

                Wildwing caught it. 

                Zelda waved her hand in the air to cool it and sat. 

                Wildwing held the hot crystal in his hand for a moment, and then it suddenly began to turn gray and melt!

                "Just hold it there and wait." Tanya told him. 

                Slowly, he felt the oozing heat slip down his hand and around his shackles. He felt the metal melting and loosening. With a swing of his arm, Wildwing broke it loose from the wall. 

                "Well I'll be." Nosedive said. "It actually worked!" 

                Tanya huffed at him as Wildwing reached over and began to pull on his other shackle. He rubbed some of the ooze on it and finally freed himself completely. 

                "Good thinking Tanya." Wildwing rubbed his hands. "Now let's all get outta here." He walked over and used the melted solarinite to free Tanya, and then his brother. Soon, everyone was out. 

                Mallory lent Duke a supporting arm as he stepped away from the wall.

                "Good to be outta that situation." he coughed bluntly.

                "Now we'll need your skills to get us out of the cell Duke." Wildwing turned to him. "Think you can crack that lock?" 

                Duke breathed slowly. "Just gimme something to pick it with..."                

"I've got a bobby pin." Tanya took one out of her hair. 

                Duke hobbled over the cell door, leaning heavily on the bars. He quickly undid the lock and the metal door swung open with a rusty creak. He stepped out into the hall. As the team followed him silently, he stumbled a bit in the dirt and fell against the bars of the other cell. Immediately Duke gripped his right side, coughing.

                "Easy there." Wildwing lent him a shoulder to lean on. "Let's get outta here." 

                The team crept up the hallway and opened another metal door, stepping outside.

                The hallway was not that of a cave at all. In fact it looked more like that of a house. There was nice carpet on the floor, and paintings of various animals hung on the beige walls.

                "Looks like we're in Baron's house." Mallory whispered.

                "And we're gonna have to keep our eyes open. Who knows what kind of sentries Draggy's got crawling all over the place." Wildwing shook his head. 

                The team quietly snuck along the wall, their backs dragging on the textured wallpaper. 

                "Man I can't wait until I can get a piece of that one-eyed chump for putting us through this." Nosedive seethed. 

                "I can't wait until you shut up and we get outta here." Mallory snapped back at him. 

                Wildwing halted for a moment to glare at them both before continuing. The team looked nervously about them, unfamiliar in a fearful place. But nothing seemed to be threatening at the moment. At least, that's what the Ducks thought.

                His ankle itched like crazy. The lizard cursed loudly at no one in particular, but all in the room flinched as he tried to sit comfortably in his chair.

                "Hey easy boss, we sympathize...." Seige grumbled, leaning against the wall with a similar wrapping of scratchy white gauze around his shoulder. 

                "Yeammmph boshhh... we sphympathyzeeee." the frazzled and muffled voice came from a spry green lizard in the corner, his whole face smothered in gauze.

                "Even breaking your jaw can't shut you up, you pathetic sack of scales!" Draguanus suddenly howled, lunged at the unwary Chameleon, and hurled him across the room. Huffing, the Saurian limped back to his chair and sat with an angry sigh, itching his bandaged ankle. Out of the corner of his eye, the little green lizard scampered out of the room quickly, running down the hall. 

                "I want those Ducks to pay, and I want them to pay NOW! We've let this matter beat around the bush for long enough!" the Saurian's rage continued to increase. His eyes burned a hot red, and smoke inched from his nostrils. 

                A man swung a plush red chair around to face him. "Lord Dragaunus, now I know zat you are angry yes?" Baron's mechanical eye matched the redness in the shadows surrounding him. "And yet why let your victory be compromized by your haste?"

                "Get to the point Baron." the Saurian eyed him grumpily. 

                "Draguanus, zhe prizoners are zafely locked avay in my dungeon. You zaw ztem yourzelf, they aren't going anyvhere." The man leaned back and rapped his fingers together. "Ve ave plenty of time to plan the demise of our collective enemiez." 

                "Speaking of those "prizoners"..." Dragaunus rumbled. 

                Sensing his Lord's mood, Wraith emerged from a shadowy corner and stepped to the huge monitor control console that sprawled out behind Baron's chair. The huge, gray screen flashed for a moment before it cleared, focusing to see a screen of dirt. Wraith hastily pressed buttons, shifting the shaky security camera up, panning it into the cell. All in the room had their mouths drop open as the empty cell came into full view. 

                Baron, his mood now changing dramatically, glanced nervously behind him. 

                "This is your island Baron." Draguanus began, obviously trying to hold his temper. "I want those Ducks found before they leave this building. If you fail me again, the next hunting accident you'll have will be your last." 

                Baron scrambled to his feet. "Yes, of courze my Lord... I'll ave them caught! I'll zend out every hunting machine I own! Zhey'll tear zis izland apart if zhey ave to!" he pledged, gibbering.

                "Shut up and get going you idiot HUMAN!" the dragon Lord howled. 

                Baron nearly tripped as he scrambled to his computer console and started tapping frantically at the keys. 

                The howl had distracted them all.

                "At least we know they're behind us." Tanya gulped. 

                "Let's move Ducks!" Mallory said quickly. "They're probably onto us!" 

                Wildwing started off running, still looking behind him and waiting for the rest of the team. Suddenly, he slammed into something, throwing him back. 

                A tiny green lizard with a head engulfed in bandages cried out in panic as he scrambled to his feet.

                "What the heck?" Wildwing yelled. 

                "Oh man, not now." Nosedive groaned. 

                "Boss! Wemmmph got Duckkssss in the bfuildingpph!" Chameleon stuttered over his com.

                "Snag him Ducks!" Wildwing snarled. 

                The weaponless lizard yelped and ran away, the Ducks running angrily after him. 

                Duke, panting with effort at a few running paces, lagged behind and slumped against the wall.                 Mallory spotted him and stopped. 

                "Go on!" he coughed, sinking to his knees. "I'll be... right behind you!"

                "Catch your breath." Mallory stood over him. "I'm staying with you."

                The Chameleon made little attempt at struggling as Nosedive watched over him with a grin. 

                "You know, I always thought you were the most sorry little lizard I've ever caught totin' a laser."

                "I'll remember thatphhm, ya big lugppphh." The Chameleon mumbled dejectedly, with a poisonous glare. 

                "We need our gear back." Wildwing rubbed his beak. "We need our coms. I hope Duke's okay." 

                "One will find nothing but trouble by sitting in a lion's den." Grin noted slowly. 

                Wildwing took a moment to decipher Grin's phrase and then voiced agreement. "Duke and Mallory can take care of themselves. We should keep moving." 

                "And what about little worm boy here?" Nosedive planted his foot firmly in Chameleon's gut. 

                "Well we can't take him along, the little guy's sure to bring more trouble than he's worth."

                "Bossssss! Bosss helpphhhh meeeeee!" the little lizard cried as Nosedive slung him over his shoulder. 

                "I suggest you silence yourself my hyperactive friend." Grin snarled at him. "Before I break more than your jaw." 

                Silence pervaded the hall again. 

                "But we can't just let him go." Nosedive argued. 

                "I had no intention of that." Wildwing grinned, gesturing over his shoulder to a brown door. He swung it open to reveal a janitor's closet. 

                The others grinned as well.

                Target lock. It blared reassuringly over the screen again and again, in the same blood red color. Draguanus watched it carefully though his beady little yellow eyes. He did have to admit that Baron had a well-developed organization, technologically wise anyway. Those machines were a smaller equivalent to his hunter drones at any rate. The Lord found his claws rapping on his armrest, reassuring himself. There was no way those Ducks could get off this island. Even if they did trash those machines, which was unlikely without weapons, they could never get off the island, with no plane or boat that was very easily accessible. No, he'd have plenty of time. He hated relying on this nutcase of a human. He hated leaving things to others. He wanted to take those Ducks apart by himself. He wanted to rip each one from each other, render the team asunder and watch the delightful results. He wanted to watch them bleed and die and he wanted to see Wildwing finally give up. It was difficult leaving the subtleties to a human, even if they were only subtleties. He wanted to do this on his own. He grinned to himself upon thinking what he would feel upon finally getting the Ducks out of his way. He was disgusted at himself for letting them live this long, for not ridding himself of them sooner. He took over a whole planet of them in a day, and had been delayed in his conquest of another world by a mere six of them. What would his ancestors think of him, could they see? Draguanus shook his crested head and cleared his mind of such thoughts, focusing on the present. Target lock, target lock. It would all be over soon.

                Zelda stumbled a bit on the carpeted floor. The heat in her head was killing her. Her muscles begged her to lay down and rest. Her sight swam and her head ached. Feverish tears slipped out occasionally and dripped hotly down her scaled face. Fatigue and fever were catching up and getting the best of her. The dragon drew in a breath of cool air and kept her eyes on the heels of her leader as Wildwing's feet dropped in and lifted out of view, walking just ahead of her. She was not going to be a burden to the team, not now. 

                Wildwing suddenly stopped. 

                Zelda lifted her head to see the hallway had ended. The yellowish walls fell away to reveal a great, blue-walled square room, hidden in shadow and coated with the heads of stuffed animals. She shivered. 

                Wildwing peered cautiously around. There was a staircase that lead up to another level, it looked like they'd have to continue upwards. It would make sense that they were below ground, coming from the dungeon. He wanted out of here, but first they had to make sure that their gear was found and the team was intact. He waved behind him and the team slowly crept out into the room. 

                Zelda scanned the walls quickly for any kind of security cameras, but it looked safe enough. 

                "Come on, let's get upstairs." Wildwing said. He set a hand on the deep brown wood of the thick banister and began to climb up the sprawling, red-carpeted stairs.

                "Man I'm getting the creeps." Nosedive muttered. "Baron's mansion can't be THAT big... he must know we're here."

                "Maybe he does...." Tanya looked around nervously.

                "Hey, if he knew we were here? Don't you think he would have been on us by now?" Wildwing asked. 

                Suddenly, there was a low clicking from the floor above them. 

                Wildwing drew his breath in sharply.

                The attack seemed to sweep forward in one large wave of black. Looking up, Tanya didn't catch more than a glimpse of the creatures before the attack had reached her. The bewildered Duck yelled and leapt backward, down the stairs, as a large machine landed before her, it's metal a silky black. The machine stared up at her, it's sleek head sporting a pair of yellow, triangular 'eyes'. A panther. Great. Tanya shoved herself backwards violently as the creature suddenly launched itself in the air with a metallic roar, springing at her and landing just a few feet away. Tanya suddenly felt very helpless, without her launcher or Omnitool. Her hand started to hurt again as the animal paced smartly before her, crouching and preparing to spring again. Tanya knew she couldn't go down, to be forced away from the others. As the machine leapt up again, she shoved her way forwards and sideways, her ribs slamming into the rounded banister as she slid past the creature. As it landed, the machine turned to face her as she grappled for balance on the stairs. It hissed and lunged. Tanya dropped to her knees as the animal whooshed overhead, claws barely raking through her tall hair as it leapt over the banister and fell down to the previous floor. Tanya looked down to see a sparking heap of metal on the floor. Rubbing her wrist, Tanya looked up the stairs. Seven of them.... there were seven more machines to only five Ducks. She grabbed the banister and launched herself upwards.

                The Duck snarled in effort as he finally wrestled the squirming, clicking machine to the ground before him. Wildwing made a vicious kick at it, his boot clunking dully off of the black metal. The animal regained it's footing again quickly, hissing. And as Wildwing braced for it's pounce, there was suddenly a burning sensation from his face. Sparks flew in his eyes. Wildwing squinted and yelled in sudden pain as the air lit up around him and shots of stinging electricity bolted through his head. The Mask. Not here! Not now! He buckled under the distracting sparks, suddenly gasping as he felt the machine slam into him. He spun dizzily through the air and felt his shoulder being dug into by a rough corner of the steps. He flailed his arms, struggling to stop himself as he and the machine tumbled down the stairs. Chaos and sparks jumbled in his head as he clanked further down, and suddenly his rolling was cut violently off. The animal was torn from him, squealing in metallic protest. There was a loud crunching of metal, and then a large hand picked him up gently. Wildwing wrenched the Mask off of his face, the sparking thing hot in his hands. He sighed, his singed eyelids finally feeling a cool rush of air.

                "You okay?" Grin's voice sounded over the din of the continuing fight.

                "I think so." Wildwing finally ventured to open his eyes, and was relieved to find that he could still see fine. "Thanks for that."

                "No trouble friend." Grin assured him with a pat on the shoulder, and started to climb the stairs quickly again. 

                Returning to the concern of the robots, Wildwing hastily slipped the Mask, still sparking randomly, into a pouch at his hip. As he returned to the fight, bruises made themselves known, but he ignored them. He reached his brother, still wrestling off a panther himself. Wildwing charged into the machine with a shoulder, pushing it up the stairs. Still, the panther retained his grip on Nosedive's shoulders, pulling him with it. The two finally separated and Wildwing threw the machine over the balcony, the creature exploding on the floor below. 

                Nosedive stood up and brushed back his ragged hair to reveal several cuts on his arm.

                "Ouch." Wildwing said.

                "They're not bad." Nosedive snorted at him. "Let's book before more of those things show!" He darted up the stairs as Grin and Zelda finished off the last machine, Grin tearing it's head off. 

                Wildwing followed his brother and the team regrouped at the top of the stairs.

                "Let's move team!" he yelled. "Baron knows where we are, let's find the others and get outta here!"

                Responsibility for him alone put a huge weight on her shoulders. Mallory sighed inaudibly as she looked around her quietly, knowing he was safely at her back and against the wall. She needed to get back with the group. She didn't like being alone. She never did. Back in the Special Forces she didn't, she hated being alone hunting Saurians, long before the Forces collapsed and she was forced to run instead of hunt. Mallory shook the memories out of her head as she felt her way along the yellow wallpaper. Duke walked behind her, much less soundlessly than she was used to. He must be hurting, she thought over again with a grim face. She needed to get him out of here. 

                "Wasn't... good of Wing to leave us.... behind." he breathed quietly, the first he had spoken in at least ten minutes. 

                "That doesn't matter now." she whispered back to him. "We'll find the others. The hallway's ending." Mallory looked ahead of her into a giant blue room not far off. 

                "Hold up." Duke said suddenly. 

                Mallory turned back to see him leaning against the wall, feeling the paper carefully. "What is it?" she asked worriedly. 

                "There's... a door here." Duke said. He straitened himself slowly to swing aside a picture frame on the wall. There was a small red button behind it. 

                Mallory shook her head. "How do you that?" 

                Duke smiled a little. "Trust me, you're... better off not knowing." He pushed the button. Suddenly a huge panel of the wallpaper swung back into the wall, to reveal a dimly-lit, gray cinderblock hall. 

                "Uck." Mallory said. "Think this is worth a shot?"

                "Baron must be keeping it secret... for some reason." Duke hobbled in first. 

                Mallory peered down the hall one more time before she too stepped in, closing the door behind her.

                Grin kept a careful eye on his teammates as they walked ahead of him. There was a sense of evil that simply pervaded this building. It sent chills down his back, each sensation giving a little stab of pain at the spot where Wraith had hit him before. Had that only been a few hours ago? Time seemed to move so slowly in this place. They were all proceeding down another hallway, a red one with a brown carpet this time. The red halls made Grin nervous. They were walking faster then they had been before. Wildwing was obviously on edge. Grin drew in a breath and shifted the dark gray pads on his shoulders. He glanced down to see Zelda trying to keep pace just ahead of him, having slipped behind her place before. Grin gently picked her up and slid her onto his shoulder. 

                She gave a grateful rumble and tried to keep a careful watch on the halls. 

                Grin was concerned about her. He was concerned about everyone, including himself. How on Puckworld were they to get out of this place?

                                                                                To be continued.....


	4. Part Four

The Rematch, part 4

Written by Zelda

                Duke was moving slowly, it was almost beginning to annoy Mallory. She tried to look around him and down the hall, hoping to see an end to this tunnel. It was dark and musty and she didn't like it. They had been walking through here for at least ten minutes, doing nothing more interesting than laboring up a flight of stairs. There had to be another door here somewhere. And slowly Duke stopped again, gesturing to his side. There was a door there, looking like something from a naval ship, with a ring-shaped handle. 

                "What about this?" he asked.

                "I say it's worth a shot." she shrugged. 

                He let her take the rusty handle and slowly wrench the door open and back. 

                It swung open with a hideously loud squeak, making Mallory cringe. She slowly peeked out. The room was large, walled with metal and lit with a red eerie glow. Some light was blinking red somewhere. Mallory looked around and saw nothing. She slipped into the room, with Duke behind her. Looking at a wall behind her, there was a large red chair in front of an even larger computer screen. That was where the light was coming from. Two words were blinking on that screen.

TARGET LOCK.

Mallory stared in confusion. And then she saw the chair swing slowly around. From the shadows that hid the figure in it, a pair of eyes blazed yellow. A blood red tail curled slowly into the light. Mallory closed her eyes. She heard Duke sigh behind her. She was quick and yet reluctant to realize what he wanted her to do. In one swift move, she darted out from in front of him and into the doorframe she had come through. Leaping back into the musty hallway, she slammed the metal door closed and wrenched the wheel to lock it again. 

                Duke watched her go. He slowly drew in a breath and turned back to Draguanus with a little smirking twinge in his brow. Suddenly, he gasped as the door was suddenly sent flying across the room, punched from its hinges. 

                Seige stomped into the room, carrying Mallory by the collar, and threw her at Duke's feet. 

                He looked up helplessly, only to meet Dragaunus's burning yellow eyes again, looming close to his own.

                Tanya's hand hurt. Her hand hurt and her head started to ache again. It was a bad omen, she knew it. Something terrible was going to happen or had happened or was happening right now. She wanted to find her Omnitool. No sooner did she finish her thought then Wildwing halted from his brisk walk ahead of her. There was another hallway. It lead off to the left. 

                Wildwing looked down it cautiously. "What do you think?" he asked the others.

                "Our gear could be down there." his brother sounded.

                "It could also be down there." Grin pointed down the hallway they were already in. 

                Wildwing sighed.

                "Should we split up?" Tanya asked.

                "No." his answer was quick. "We have no way of contacting each other... I don't want us to get captured...." he thought over his options. "Let's take this hallway." 

                The team turned to the left and began to walk again. 

                She gritted her teeth to the locked fangs before her. She wouldn't say a word, she promised herself she wouldn't say a word to him.

                "I'm asking you one more time Duck." Dragaunus snarled, ivory teeth glinting beneath his scaly lips. "Tell me where they are now." 

                Mallory remained silent. 

                Dragaunus let out a roar so loud that it shook the room.

                "I don't know where they are now." she bit back at him in a mocking tone. "And even if I did you'd have to pull the answer out of my throat yourself."

                "Careful, I just may." he snarled, edging anger in his voice. 

                He turned away from her, thank goodness. Mallory looked around her in relief. She was suprised that he was keeping them in the control room. She thought he would have taken them back to the cell, perhaps he'd be smart enough to leave a guard there. But instead she found her hands and feet bound, sitting uncomfortably on the floor in a corner. She looked over her shoulder to see Duke trying again to work at the ropes. He was having a tough go at it. Mallory could see it was hurting him. He finally gave up and glanced at her with a helpless and pained look. Mallory turned back to watching Dragaunus pacing by the console. 

                "I'm not suprised you'd be so stubborn about your comrades." Dragaunus spoke as if he suddenly decided to continue the conversation from before. "But you see your information isn't really necessary anyway. You see this?" he pointed to the blinking TARGET LOCK on the computer screen. "That means every one of Baron's hunting machines on this whole island is honed in on your little friends. Believe me, I'd be quite impressed if they made it even close to here alive. But just in case...." he gestured to Seige, who patted the muzzle of his trusty laser. 

                Mallory didn't need further explanation. They were trapped like rats. Great.

                They had taken the wrong hall. Wildwing knew it from when he had set not three steps down it. There was just something wrong about it, bad and foreboding. It got darker and darker as they went down it. Wildwing couldn't see more than 15 feet in front of him. The team had crowded closer as they walked. And yet something kept telling him that this was the right hall. Something was pulling him down this way. 

                "Hey bro." It was Dive who spoke. "Do you have ANY idea of where you're going? I'm washed out!"

                "No." he admitted. "But do you?" 

                "I got a bad feeling about this place."

                "Me too little bro. You just wait, we'll get outta here yet." 

                Suddenly there was a red light down the hall. The light was strange, as if it was blocked off into little pieces along the top of the ceiling. They approached it carefully. It could be a security camera... a scanner, some kind of alarm. But then they got close enough to make the words out. It was an exit sign! Wildwing suddenly saw a metal door in the wall, with a crack of white light coming though a slit at the bottom. 

                "Whoopee! FINALLY a way out!" Nosedive jumped for joy. He was about to turn the handle, when his brother grabbed his arm.

                "Hang on little bro, this thing could be boobytrapped. 

                Immediately Tanya shifted to inspect it. She felt the doorframe and tried to get as good a look as she could at the lock in the light. "Looks clean to me." she said, and twisted the handle. Suprisingly, the door was actually unlocked! It was heavy and opened slowly, letting a beam of crisp sunlight in. It was blinding to the Ducks, who all had to shade their eyes. Daylight. It must have been around noon. How many hours had they spent in here? When they could see clearly again, there was a picture perfect view of the outdoors sprawled before them. On the right was the jungle, on the left was the entrance to the house. Off in the distance, sky blue waves broke against the beach. 

                "Woohoo!" Dive celebrated again. "We've got our way out!"

                "And yet we can't leave. We've got to find Mallory and Duke... and get our gear." Wildwing sighed. 

                "So what do we do?" asked Tanya.

                "Dive. You, and Grin go out and scout around. See if you can't find a boat or something. We'll need to get out of here ASAP when we can." 

                "That's a roger bro." Dive gave him a thumbs up and Grin nodded. 

                "Take Zelda with you too." 

                The dragon tried to stir and plead her case at the remark, but Wildwing had already started off. The dragon sank back against Grin's shoulder as he stepped out and left the door closed behind him.

                Sun, heat, humidity and the smell of sea air. It sifted into her lungs and soaked through her scales. Zelda wished she could welcome it... she wished she could feel as she usually did when great golden rays would grace her scales and fill her whole body up with warmth. Now that warmth was oppressive. The sun beat down on them as if they were in a desert, strong and directly overhead. Zelda let a long, hot breath out of her throat in a gutteral growl, breathing the smell of her own fever back in a moment later. 

                Grin was already heading for the jungle though, he gently bent the foliage away as he searched along the shoreline for some kind of a boat. 

                "Man this is great!" Nosedive breathed from the beach not too far away. "Freedom! I felt like I was in a dungeon in there!"

                "We may soon wish we were imprisoned again, little friend." Grin muttered in his low voice.

                "Come again? I think you got too much mud in that head of yours Grinster." Dive walked up to him.

                "I believe he's right." Zelda sighed. "We shouldn't be separated.... not now."

                "This whole land just feels evil... bad vibes." Grin stared warily ahead of him into the jungle, his neck stretched to see over the leaves. 

                Nosedive shook his head and turned back to the beach. Weirdos... but maybe Grin was right. He and Zel had a way with these things. But he didn't want to go back inside, heck no! He wanted off this crummy island. He wanted to be back home. He walked right up to the water and looked down the shore in both directions. No sign of a boat... Nosedive thought of the ferry that had taken them from the airport on the main island to here... but it probably wouldn't come back unless he hired it. Nosedive stooped down to take a handful of seawater, his stomach reminding him of the hit he had taken last night as he did so. He scooped up a handful of water and dumped it on his head. Man that felt good. He was suddenly thirsty, and hunger came to him rather quickly as well. Too bad Zel wouldn't go foraging for coconuts or something, huh. The Duck turned back to the jungle and walked slowly along the shoreline. A big white seagull squawked out as it landed near him, webbed feet sinking only slightly in the hot sand. Man that bird was pretty big. He'd seen some like it in California. But Dive had never seen a bird like this one. It moved weird... jerkily. And then he realized it wasn't a bird... it was a machine. Heck. "Yo guys...." he called slowly. 

                Grin poked his head out of the foliage about 20 feet away. 

                "Check this out." Dive smiled at the bird as it stood cocking its head. "What, you think this one goes out and fetches seashells for the Baron?" he joked. More squawks came from overhead. Dive glanced up to see three or four more gulls, he couldn't tell with all the sun. "At least I know they won't poop on me!" he laughed. 

                Suddenly, one swooped down and grabbed his hair, pulling it before it let go and flew off. 

                "What the heck!?" he yelled angrily, pulling his hair back into place and waving at the birds.             They squawked again.

                "I'd get back here Dive..." Zelda started to get up. 

                Another one of the birds made a swoop at Nosedive. 

                He ducked underneath it, when the one in the sand jumped at him and grabbed at his arm with its beak, tugging his skin.

                "Owch!" he yelled, standing up to shake the bird off. 

                It held on like a vice. 

                Two more dove in, suddenly clamping to Dive's face and mud-stained shoulder. 

                Nosedive started to panic, he could hear more of those things overhead. The pain started becoming more intense as those birds pinched harder, and suddenly he felt pinpricks along their beaks, like little teeth stabbing in. He wheeled around in sudden pain and smashed his arms down into the sand.      By this time Zelda and Grin had reached him. 

                Grin took hold of one on his shoulder and tried to pull, but when the bird wouldn't let go he simply crushed it instead. Birds were starting to land on him too, Zelda was doing her best to shoo them away from them both. 

                Dive finally managed to yank the last bird off of him and crush it under his foot. "What is this!" he yelled angrily. "Some kind of Alfred Hitchcock movie?!?!" 

                "Easy my friend, let's try not to attract attention." Grin patted him on the shoulder. 

                Nosedive shook himself and turned away from the beach. 

                Zelda was standing near them, sniffing curiously at one of the crushed machines. "Look at this guys." she pointed.

                "More trouble?!?" Nosedive was exasperated. 

                Zelda lifted up the machine to reveal a clear green liquid dripping out of a smashed compartment. "Looks like it. This isn't oil, this is some kind of venom."

                "Did any of those things bite you Grinster?" Nosedive asked.

                "No, but they did get you..."

                "Just my arm..." Nosedive held out his left arm to reveal a row of tiny tooth marks, each bearing a trace of blood on the feathers.

                "Great, just great." Zelda signed and wiped her muzzle. "Gimme your belt Dive."

                "Whoa... what for?"

                "We've got to stop that venom from spreading... we'll have to make a tourniquet on your arm." Nosedive slipped his belt off, taking off the holster for his puck launcher and leaving it on the sand. 

                Zelda fastened it around his arm and yanked it tight.

                "Yow!" he snarled, pulling his arm away. "Does it have to be that tight?!" 

                Zelda nodded grimly as Grin picked her up and put her back on his shoulder. "Try not to move it... we've gotta keep looking for some type of a boat..." 

                They moved quickly back to the jungle.

                "And who knows what other animals Baron has out here." Grin said. 

                Nosedive was only half listening. He was getting tired, sleepy even... he was getting tired fast.

                This was the end... they both knew it when they saw it. The recognized it from the time they had been here before. The hallway melded into the great room, with its great computer screen and console, its walls hung with animal heads and furs. This was it... the main room. Wildwing and Tanya looked at each other for a moment. Now what? 

                Wildwing started thinking quickly. There had to be someone in there. A henchman, maybe even Draggy or Baron. Maybe their gear was in there too. Wildwing stepped beyond the doors at the end of the hall and slowly crept into the room, blinking in a pulsing red light. He slunk along the wall, into the far corner. 

                Tanya was about to follow when suddenly they both saw something out of the corner of their eye. Seige. At the far end of the room, he was stalking to the console of the computer. He removed a laser gun from it and walked back to the middle, disappearing behind the giant chair that stretched to the ceiling. He started talking to someone. 

                Wildwing sensed his tone of voice even though he couldn't make out any words. There was something bad going on. 

                Tanya looked at him and shrugged. 

                How would they find out without actually peeking around the chair? Wildwing reached over and took out the Mask from his pouch. Maybe, just maybe it would work for him. He slipped it on his head, closing his eyes as he pressed his hands to the side of it. Please...please... Tiny electric shocks raced through his skull. Wildwing flinched but kept his hands held to it. It had to work... he had to try... And suddenly the Mask fell silent. Wildwing opened his eyes again to see red before them. Relived, he scanned the area. Four life forms... Seige was one... Dragaunus another, and the rest... Wildwing froze. 

                Tanya glanced at him worriedly. What was it? 

                Wildwing removed the Mask from his beak and stowed it, slinking back out of the room. 

                Tanya followed him quickly as he huddled in the corner of the hall. "What?" she whispered as softly as she could.

                "Duke and Mal, they're in there. I think they've been captured." he sighed softly. 

                Tanya looked around. "Wait a sec... look there." she pointed. A few feet back down on the other side of the hall, there was a door with "Emergency Exit Only, Alarm Will Sound" painted on it. "Diversion?"

                "Good thinking... If I can activate that alarm.."

                "I'm going." Tanya said. 

                Wildwing looked at her. "Are you sure? Once Draggy knows where you are..."

                "I know. But you're probably going to face worse getting those two outta his claws." Tanya gave him a smirk. She stood up and crept over to the door. She drew in a deep breath, then wrenched the handle and threw the door open. A blaring siren suddenly exploded the silence. Tanya waited, frozen in terror like a deer in the headlights of a car. And suddenly a laser beam shot down the hall. 

                Wildwing crumpled himself in the corner as he heard Seige yell and his footsteps grow thunderously close. 

                Tanya fled, slamming the door behind her. 

                Seige arrived at it not more than a few seconds later, busting it in with a single punch and diving into the black space beyond. He didn't see Wildwing slipping into the control room behind him. 

                It was pulsing and red as Wildwing retreated to the far corner again. He gritted his teeth and slowly tiptoed along the wall, daring to leave it and trek across the room. He finally reached the back of the chair, flattening himself against it nervously. As he approached the edge of it, he was suddenly presented with a problem: How was he to peek around the corner without getting his beak into view? He sighed to himself, and cut his breath off as he heard voices.

                "I'm getting tired of putting up with you." It was Dragaunus. "You'd better talk now, before I decide to get violent." 

                "Gee." Mallory answered in a wry tone. "With a brain as small as yours, I'd assume violence was second nature!" 

                Suddenly there was a muffled yell, and Wildwing retreated further behind the chair as something rushed past him, landing on the floor with a thud. Wildwing squinted in the dark red light to see that it was Duke! 

                Bound tightly, he slowly rolled up onto his side, teeth locked. 

                "Duke!" Mallory called to him. 

                He didn't respond, trying to breathe. 

                Wildwing crept to the very edge of the chair, crouching on the floor, trying to get Duke's attention. 

                But he didn't open his eyes. 

                Dragaunus started chuckling. "Now be a good little Duckling and talk, before you end up worse off than your friend!"

                "I told you before I DON'T KNOW WHERE THEY ARE!" she yelled back at him. 

                Dragaunus growled. "It matters not." he shrugged her off. 

                Wildwing froze as he sat in the chair. 

                "You know I'm actually disappointed that whoever tripped the emergency door alarm didn't just come in here instead." he mused. "I would have simply loved dealing with them. Perhaps your friends were looking for a way to leave this island without you. Oh well, they're at the mercy of Seige's laser now, and he doesn't miss very often. I'll be here when they're brought back, in one piece or in pieces. Believe me, I'll be waiting." Suddenly there was a whoosh from above, and Dragaunus was flattened as something dropped down onto him.

                Wildwing landed a punch somewhere in the lizard's shoulder before gravity took them both to the floor. He'd remind himself never to jump from that height again, from the chair above. He rolled up quicker than Dragaunus did, who was holding his crested head.

                "Mallory! Where's our gear?" he called out behind him.

                "I don't know!" she yelled back. 

                Wildwing shook his head. He wanted his pucks for his launcher back. And worse yet, Draggy was up and charging again. 

                Nosedive stopped and propped himself up with his arm, bracing against a mossy log. Man he was tired... too tired to think almost. He heard Grin stop ahead of him and turn around. 

                "You trip back there Dive?" Zelda called to him. 

                It took a minute for the Duck to process what he had heard. "I'm just tired..." he trailed off. He heard Grin returning to him. 

                Zelda jumped on the log beside him, looking into his face. "You've been slowing down... I hate to say it but I think that's the venom. It must be some sorta tranquilizer..."

                "Great... it's sleepytime for me." Dive faltered as he tried to stand again. 

                "This is inconvenient." Grin said softly. "We have to keep looking for a boat."

                "But we can't stray too far from where we came, or the others won't find us." Zelda said. "And Dive...." 

                "Stay with him." Grin told her. "I'm going to keep looking." 

                Zelda nodded and watched him walk off alone. 

                Dive sat down beside her, head bobbing sluggishly.

                "This isn't good." Zelda told him. "We can't keep splitting up. He's all alone out there Dive. If something happens to him... we're not much better off ourselves, and who knows about the others...." Zelda turned back to see that Nosedive had faded off to sleep. 

                He couldn't think clearly. His mind was all fuzzy, faint. He could hear... he heard the voices of angels, singing down to him. Duke froze up with weak fear, trying to breathe. He forced his eyes open, and saw nothing but pulsing red and a bluish light above him. He slowly recognized what he was hearing... Wildwing's shield. The goalie was crouched behind his head, holding his shield over him and wincing as laser fire glanced off of it. Duke tried to move, tingling running up his limbs. He wasn't breathing right... he had to get off of his ribs... Wildwing suddenly ran away from him. Duke froze, unprotected. There were thunderous noises resounding near him. Dragaunus was running, full flight, the 600 pound dinosaur flashing teeth and claws as he leapt at least 7 feet in the air and landed with a crash into Wildwing. The two rolled on the ground before they both tired out, got up, and locked arms again. Duke gasped as Wildwing took a huge slash and was thrown to the ground. This time, he stayed down. Duke closed his eyes as Dragaunus paced towards his fallen leader, panting and grinning. Suddenly there was a loud yell and a thwack. Duke opened his eyes again to see Wildwing viciously kick Big Red's knees out from under him, knocking him to the floor. The Duck sprang up and landed another kick right in his head. Dragaunus gave out a final snarl of pain before he sunk into unconsciousness. Wildwing stood over him, panting in effort, eyes closed and a hand gripping his right shoulder. He removed it to reveal a deep gash in his armor. Wildwing walked quickly back to Duke and kneeled down by him.

                "Is he okay?" Mallory's voice came from the corner. 

                Wildwing started to untie his ropes. "Duke? You still with me Duke?" he asked.

                "I'm okay..." he breathed sharply.

                "Take it easy.... we're in the clear now." Wildwing looped the rope from around his body and slowly sat him up. 

                Duke held his ribs and was able to breathe more easily. 

                Wildwing stood up and walked over, untying Mallory. 

                She stood up and stretched. "Where's everyone else?" she asked, rubbing her wrists and walking back for Duke.

                "Grin, Zel and Dive are outside."

                "You found an exit?" 

                "Yes, hopefully we can get to it. But Tanya was the one that got Seige to run off... who knows where she is...." 

                Mallory stooped down and gently helped Duke off of the floor, sitting him in the main chair. 

                Wildwing looked up at the screen. "What's this?"

                "It's a target lock sequence." Mallory snapped to as if she suddenly remembered it. "It's got all the machines on this island locked in on each of us!" 

                "Jeez what is he in league with Dr. Droid now?!" Wildwing sighed. "I'm going to see if I can't break the sequence. See if our gear's in here Mal." 

                Mallory walked off and started looking around the room. 

                Wildwing rubbed his chin and stared down at the keyboard. Why didn't he go instead of Tanya?

                Why didn't he stay inside? Grin shook his head slowly as he crouched low in the wet jungle foliage. The heat was getting to him, making him dizzy. He wished he was back in the dark again. He didn't like it at all out here, in this jungle full of unearthly machines waiting to rip him to pieces. Grin snapped himself back to. This was not like him at all. He'd never get off this island thinking like this. Nay... he needed to regain his link with the land. Being trapped in that mansion for so long had made him nervous. The threat to him was still real, but there was no use in cowering in fear, so tense that he'd leap into the air at the snap of every twig. No, he needed to become one with the forest itself, to gain its sight and its touch. He needed to feel what it felt. He would know of his enemies before they knew of him. He would gain their own sight. Grin closed his eyes and crouched lower, feeling his fingers sink into the wet, loamy earth. He took in a deep breath and sighed, pushing himself mentally down into the earth, seeping into it and spreading through it, filtering out into the plants, up into the trees. And Grin remained this way when he felt something else depressing its paws into the soil near him. Slowly, quietly, he stood up and clenched his fists. Grin suddenly spun around and slammed his fist into the hot metal plating of a mechanical hyena as it leapt. The animal screamed in metallic protest and was flung into the brush, throwing greenery up around it. Grin turned calmly around to see two more of the hyenas leaping at him. He grabbed one around the neck and swatted at the other, but he missed. The machine landed on his arm, locking its jaws dumbly into his shoulder padding. Grin plucked it off and smashed the two machines together, rendering them to pieces. He snarled as the first hyena leapt on him again, claws scraping up his back, tearing his shirt. Grin simply fell to the ground, crushing the machine beneath him. He got up, looking beyond the bushy leaves to see five more machines waiting to spring at him. Grin crouched and snarled, but the animals suddenly sat back. Suprised, Grin didn't let down his guard. The animals just sat there. Grin frowned. Slowly, one of them got up and started wandering away from him. The other four followed, meandering away in a crooked path. Grin stood up and watched them until they had disappeared, and the forest was once again peacefully silent. Grin dusted himself off slowly, and started walking again.

                                                                                To be continued....


	5. Part Five

Rematch, part 5

Written by Zelda

                Wildwing wiped his brow in satisfaction.

                "I think I got it." he smiled, leaning up from the console. The red letters on the screen had faded.

                "Me too." Mallory called. "Lookie what I found." 

                Wildwing looked up to have a launcher tossed to him. 

                Mallory emerged from a storage closet with her arms full of their gear.

                "Excellent." Wildwing scooped up his loose pucks and reloaded his arm launcher to the fullest. He pocketed his brother's launchers and Tanya's Omnitool, while Mallory reloaded her cannon and tucked Grin's launcher at her side. 

                Duke had his sabre, smoke pucks, and grappling puck returned to him, which he slowly stored away. 

                Wildwing patted his arm. "Well now we can finally deal with those Saurians instead of running from them, which means we can leave now."

                "Yahoo." Mallory said grimly. "First we're gonna have to find everyone else."

                Wildwing looked at his restrapped com. "And that's going to be a problem." Suddenly, a burst of red laser fire shot up the huge computer screen, making the glass shatter and fall in on itself. 

                Wildwing stood up quickly.

                "I have a feeling our problem is solved." Mallory cocked her cannon and slowly walked behind the chair.

                Her lungs burned as if there was a fire inside them. Tanya had grown to know that feeling, that feeling when your body was telling you that you'd had too much, that it was trying to use pain to make you stop. But Tanya knew that to stop was to die. The only hope she had was to make it back to the control room. But she had no idea where she was going. Sprinting down the dim halls and black stairwells had gotten her turned around in this place, Seige just a few lumbering footsteps behind her the whole time. How could he run that fast!? Moreso, how was she running this slow? She was so tired. She slammed herself through a doorway and bounded into another hall, to realize joyfully that this was the hall to the control room! And there were sounds of combat. She thought that Seige was gaining on her, but the sounds were coming from ahead! Was Wing in trouble? Tanya had second thoughts of running into the room, could it be a dead end? A laser blasted on her heels. Tanya decided to go for it. She charged into the room, now having some room to maneuver. She darted to the left and spun around to see Seige come lumbering in after her, just as tired as she. The moment Tanya stopped, her body seemed to slowly freeze up, wanting to preserve the moment of rest. Tanya shoved off of her toes and ran again, for the large chair in the center of the room. She ran around it for cover, and nearly slammed into Duke!

                "Whoa! Easy Tanya!" he yelled. 

                Tanya stopped, gasping for breath, wide-eyed. "What's.... going on?" she panted. 

                "Wraith's somewhere in here." Duke propped himself out of the chair. 

                "So is Seige!" Tanya cried. 

                They could hear his footsteps lumbering closer and closer. 

                Duke took out one of his smoke pucks and waited. At the first flash of orange around the bend, he hurled the puck and Seige disappeared, hacking and wheezing, inside the thick black cloud of smoke. 

                "That should keep him outta our hair, eh?" Duke chuckled. 

                Suddenly, something hit Tanya on the side of the head, not hard. She stooped down and picked up her Omnitool! "Finally!" she grinned, putting it back on her wrist. "Where are the others?"

                "Over there somewhere I'd guess." Duke tried to stand again.

                "Whoa, relax. Keep a eye on Seige for me." Tanya nodded to him and ran off into the room. Wraith had better look out, she was in no mood to play nice. 

                Grin stared blankly along the shore, using his visor to shade his eyes. This was hopeless. He could trek across this whole island and not find a boat. Baron had to have one somewhere, but he had already swept the shoreline perimeter of the mansion, and had found nothing. He knew he should keep looking anyway, but still he wanted to get back and check how Zelda and Nosedive were doing, and whether they had continued their search as well. Finally he started to walk back, along the blinding white sand of the shore. Suddenly there was a watery roar in the distance. Grin immediately crouched on the ground, expecting some mechanical killer whale to come lunging at him. But there was something approaching the island in the distance, sparkling white and silver. Grin didn't feel a threatening presence, so he waited, squinting to see what it was. And then he finally recognized it: The Duck Foil! He instantly knew what this meant, and continued back for the jungle. 

                The dragon could hear him coming from a long distance away, and was happy when he finally arrived. She hadn't moved an inch since Grin had left her, she was too tired and Nosedive was asleep. Zelda stood shakily as he came up to them both. "What's happening?" she asked.

                "The others have brought the Duck Foil here." Grin reported.

                "Are they aboard?"

                "Not yet, but we should do just that." Grin put Zelda on one shoulder and used his arm to support Nosedive. He began to wake up as Grin lifted him.

                "Wha...." he started, eyes groggy and half-open.

                "Easy Dive, we're going home." Zelda told him.

                "I'm cool with that..." he muttered.

                "Come on, let's walk back to the beach little friend." Grin started off slowly, still wary of the jungle around him.

                Wildwing was immensely relived to see the three unraveling themselves from the jungle foliage and coming towards the boat. 

                Mallory ushered them on. "All aboard you three! We're shovin' off!" Zelda leapt off of Grin's shoulder and glided gently onto the white hood of the Duck Foil, sighing gratefully.

                "What's wrong with Dive?" Wildwing helped sit his brother gently in the back of the boat.

                "He got a little tranquilizer in him." Zelda explained. "He's just a little woozy."

                "What about Dragaunus?" Grin asked.

                "He'll be busy inside." Tanya said. "But not for long. Let's get outta here!" The boat's engine roared to life as the Foil gently pulled out into deeper water, spun about, and shot off into the water.

                "Ahh home free!" Mallory smiled. "Man I can't describe how great this feels." 

                "YOU ARE NOT OUT OF ZE CLEAR YET DUCKS!" A harsh and scratchy voice boomed over the crystal water.

                "Not again!" Wildwing groaned. They all peered around a bend in the island, to see a huge metal triangle plowing through the water beyond it.

                "What the...." Tanya started.

                "You have gotta be kidding me!" Duke sighed.

                "Maybe we should have taken Baron's threat of hunting us with an aircraft carrier seriously." Grin mumbled. The huge metal ship loomed ominously, churning away from the island. 

                "What are we gonna do?" Tanya began to panic.

                "That thing could have missles, torpedoes!" Mallory agreed. "They'd blow this little skiff right out of the water!" 

                "Worse yet... he could have more of those... seagulls..." Nosedive gurgled sleepily.

                "Tanya, how much juice do we have in this thing?" Wildwing asked her.

                "The tank's full." Tanya answered, not taking her eyes off of the ship. 

                "Then we can outrun him." Wildwing grinned slightly. "Everyone grab a hold of something." The other Ducks holed up against the back of the boat, while he prepared to gun the motor. Suddenly an explosion ripped up about twenty feet away. The waves rocked the boat violently.

                "Aww man I'm gonna be sick...." Tanya sniffled. 

                "Hang on!" Wildwing yelled, and suddenly the boat shot forwards. 

                "YOU CANNOT RUN DUCKS!" the voice boomed again, over a loudspeaker.

                "Then try and catch us." Wildwing yelled back, his voice blotted out by the churning water from the back of the boat. The Foil raced off as agilely as if it were a jetski. 

                Mallory peeked over the top of the boat to see the island and the lumbering aircraft carrier disappearing quickly behind them. Another explosion ripped up next to the Duck Foil, nearly capsizing the boat. The occupants clung on frantically as it righted itself and sped off again.

                "Long range torpedoes, we'll have to move on this one!" Wildwing was yelling, nearly crouching at the steering controls. "Tanya, when will we be out of weapons range?"

                "Another half mile at this speed and we'll be in the clear." she yelled back to him.

                "We'll make it." he said confidently. Another explosion, this time much father away. Baron was losing his accuracy. 

                Tanya watched her Omnitool as the Foil inched closer and closer to safety. "There! We're out!" she yelled. 

                Wildwing slowed the boat only slightly, but everyone relaxed. Another explosion sounded behind them, this time so far away that the Foil barely felt the wake of it. Wildwing switched on the autopilot and slumped down on the floor with a relieved smile.

                "Whew."

                "You said a mouthful." Mallory agreed. "Man am I gonna kill Phil when we get back!" 

                "I think 'Phil' is still in the storage closet where we left him." Wildwing snorted. "Now, everyone think they're gonna live until we get back?" he asked. 

                Everyone chuckled slightly and nodded. 

                "Good." the leader replied. "I almost feel sorry, that poor Medicom's gonna be running on overdrive."

                Tanya scratched her hand, the feathers worn and frazzled around the area with the cast. Man her wrist hurt. Two cracked bones... good thing it was the offseason. She was glad she was at least still able to work her keyboard, tapping away at the Medicom. At least she wasn't the worst off, poor Duke had two ribs snapped cleanly on his right side where Seige had hit him. How they didn't stab him clean through the lung was a mystery to her, but they merely bruised it. He was now resting comfortably, protesting just as well as Zelda that they were fine. Nosedive had woken up long ago, the tranquilizer wearing off on its own. Nosedive would probably be left with some permanent phobia of seagulls though! The Mask lay waiting for her on a table in her lab, to be repaired. And with the exception of bumps and bruises, everyone else was pretty much okay. The only thing they had in common was complete exhaustion. Tanya got up and walked out, the only thing she wanted to do was take a shower and go to bed! Of course the cast was going to be a problem... ahh who cared? At least she was home, and being home was half the matter.

                                                                                The End


End file.
